BRIEFING - ASIA ECONOMIC NEWS - FEB 10, 2004.

An executive briefing on the economies of Asia for Feb 10, 2004, prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia based wire with exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.

INDIA'S GDP PEGGED AT 8.1 per cent FOR FY'04

NEW DELHI - Buoyed by a phenomenal rise in farm output in tandem with impressive performance of industry and services sector, the government of India on Monday projected economic growth at 8.1 per cent for this fiscal, just ahead of the general elections.

After a whopping 8.4 per cent growth in the second quarter, the Central Statistical Organisation estimates GDP to grow by 8.1 per cent for the entire fiscal year, which is more than double the 4 per cent growth in 2002-03.

ECONOMIC AID WILL HELP SOLVE N KOREA NUCLEAR PROBLEM: INSTITUTE

SEOUL - South Korea's economic aid to North Korea should be used to solve the latter's nuclear weapons standoff with the United States, a state think tank scholar said today.

If necessary, he said, South Korea should be bold enough to impose economic sanctions in order to control the pace and scope of the joint project rather than let it get out of control when the security situation goes awry.